Organic Beers!

Like every other food and beverage category, organic beer has exploded onto the market, more than doubling in the past few years. Similar to the craft brewery revolution in the 1980s, breweries on the coasts paved the path for organic beer, and now even Anheuser-Busch has introduced its own line of organic brews.

With a few exceptions, organic beers in Minnesota generally come from Europe. Yet, bottles are expensive to ship and they require a lot of resources to get them from point A to point B. This is especially true when you have to ship them across an ocean and then truck them into the Midwest.

There is some good news, though. You can find a few tasty and local state-side organic brews in Minnesota — ESB (Extra Special Bitter) from Lakefront Brewery out of Milwaukee, WI, and the Anheuser-Busch made Wild Hop Lager and Stone Mill Pale Ale, deceptively brewed under the respective names of Green Valley Brewing Co. and Crooked Creek Brewing Co. Keep your fingers crossed that others will soon make their way to the North Star State.

While the supply of organic beer may somewhat limited in Minnesota, there is no shortage of quality brew pubs in the state, some of which brew organic styles now and then. If you can’t go organic, you can at least go local, right?